A Hero's Love
by Justanothersinger
Summary: He did love him. An honest, true love that scares him and exhilarates him. Even if their future was uncertain, he'd see things through to the end. Setoshin royal AU, this story dictates how they first met. Prequel to Begging for Favors, but also contains the scene directly after the story at the very end.


A Hero's Love

A Kagerou Project fanfiction

For the first time in a long while, the castle was in an uproar.

The unthinkable had happened; the truce had failed. War was on the horizon.

Seto didn't remember much of that day.

He remembers Ayano waking him up, looking worried.

He remembers Kano and Kido taking him to the dinner table, holding his hands. He doesn't know how long he's been there until Ayano came back.

Sees a cloaked figure behind her, a face streaked in grime and covered in bruises, clutching the hand of a sobbing young girl. A boy who looked like he was going to topple over, but held Seto's gaze...no, _commanded _it. And Seto couldn't look away, no matter what.

From that point on, his memory is sharp, crystal clear.

Because he remembers that day as the day he fell in love.

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Shintaro was the son of a prominent knight. When he died in the crossfire, Ayano had invited his family into the castle. An incredible coincidence it was, that he managed to become fast friends with the princess, knighted father or no.

His mother had taken up a job as a maid in the castle, his sister Momo focused on studying.

And Shintaro himself?

He'd given up on school entirely and locked himself in his room all day. Not one word from Ayano or Momo or their mother could get him out. It'd gotten so bad that they had to break the door down to give him food. But even then, he'd refused to come out.

They were worried for him. Seto was too

So, he'd stand outside the door, from morning till nightfall. Dragged to bed unwillingly by his brother and sisters. He'd be back by morning, stand near the door, knock three times when it was meal time. If Shintaro didn't come out, he'd ask Marry to bring it up to him. No one could refuse Marry for fear of invoking her tears, Shintaro included. He'd then resume standing there until Shintaro's mother stopped by with his siblings in tow, smiled at him and sent him off on his way.

A week later, he tried something else. He started to talk to him.

Insignificant things, stories of his past. The games he played with Kano, Kido and Ayano, imitating the magnificent princes and princesses of legend, the brave knights who slew monsters and saved the people. The lessons Momo would complain about, how she and Ayano would band up and try to study together, only for the session to wind up with them sharing cookies, swapping stories and their books untouched. How Shintaro's mother worried about him and though she saw the boy every night, feared for his health

It was a month later when Shintaro finally opened his door to him, interrupting Seto's narrative of when they'd fled the castle for the umpteenth time to play with the children in town.

"Why...are you still out here?" His voice was scratchy from lack of use and the shadows under his eyes were worryingly black

"Why?" Seto repeated, "What do you mean?"

"Aren't you cold?"

Seto was. It was the middle of winter, after all and the halls had poor insulation.

Shintaro stares at him more before a hand reached out from under his blanket and takes Seto's own.

"Gah! You're freezing!" Shintaro exclaims.

"And you're warm." So warm.

From their hands was a sweet, soothing warmth that flowed through his body.

"Of course I'm warm; there's a fireplace in here! Why...why were you out here and not in your own-?!"

"I had to finish..." Ahhh, this warmth was heavenly. A bit too much so. "...telling you..." His head felt really light and his eyelids were so heavy. "my...story..."

He remembers Shintaro's panicked cry before he blacked out.

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When he woke up again, he was surrounded by pillows and unfamiliar sheets.

He blinked and tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down again.

"Sick people should stay in bed and sleep."

That voice...Shintaro?

"Your fever's high. You slept for a day." Shintaro murmured, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wanted...to see you-"

"I haven't even seen you since the first day you came here." Shintaro says, cutting him off.

And Seto just smiled at him.

"I thought...you would be lonely."

"...Idiot. I wanted to be lonely."

But he didn't leave Seto's side. Not until he had fully recovered.

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The day Seto went back to his room, he saw Shintaro standing there.

"The story of the prince and the dragon...what happened next?"

Seto blinked. A slow smile spread on his face, sunshine bright.

And he followed Shintaro into the room.

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"I'm going to be a knight."

The conversation at the table stopped abruptly and Momo stared incredulously at her brother. But Shintaro's gaze was level and Seto recognized the quiet, serious look on his face.

"There's no point in me going back to school now. So I might as well start training for it."

Kano had been the first to recover. "Ehhh? The same Shintaro-kun who could barely walk around the courtyard without falling over, gasping? You're actually going for training?!"

"Shut up. I don't care." There was no heat in his words; Kano's hadn't riled him up in the slightest.

He was serious.

Ayano clapped her hands, once, twice. Drawing everyone's attention back to the table.

"Well, that's good! I'll talk to Ene-chan tomorrow! But the dinner table is hardly the place to discuss such things. We'll talk more tomorrow, ok?"

"...Right."

As they ate, Seto could feel Shintaro's strong, steady gaze on him.

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"Nee-san?"

"Hmm? What is it, Kousuke?" Ayano asked, looking up from her book.

"You said you were going to talk to Ene-san, right?"

"Right."

Seto took in a deep breath and steeled himself.

"I...I want to join the training regimen too."

Ayano closes the book and looks at him. There's a smile on her face but in her eyes was a serious, knowing look.

"Alright."

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"So you were here." Shintaro said as soon as Seto came up to him.

"Mmhm!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Shintaro sighed. Seto just grins at him and stretches, soaking in the warmth of the sun, "I can't wait to start!"

"...Is this something you really need to do? Not just keep me company? Because if it isn't, you need to turn back and head for the castle right now."

"N-no, I really want to be here! I want to train!"

"This isn't child's play, Seto. We're about to go into war here." Shintaro said and the volume of his voice drops just a bit at the end, "You need to be serious."

"I am serious! I want to join so I can protect everyone!"

"Protect everyone?"

"I'm a prince." Seto replied, "But I wasn't born into the royal family. Nee-san told you, right?"

Shintaro nodded and he continued, "I don't like fighting. But I know that we're going to fight. So I'm going to learn how to do it too!" Seto smiled at him, "It's my duty to protect my subjects."

"Most members of royalty stay behind castle walls."

"But I want to protect them. My family, my friends. And you."

"And me?" Shintaro asked with a raised eyebrow, "I'd assumed I was in your friend circle, seeing as you call me one."

But Seto didn't think of him as a friend.

Instead...

"Whatever. It's your decision. But know this; I won't take it easy on you just because you are a prince."

I know you won't.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

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Shintaro was different. He saw the Royal children as just that; children. He spoke to Ayano and Kido like he would any girl, fought with Kano quite a lot and was friends with Seto.

And though he referred to them as royals, he was never acutely aware of their status.

Seto had thought that he was drawn to him because of that.

it had taken him quite a few years to know that it was not.

That the reason Seto treasures him is an entirely different one.

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"Kano says that you like someone."

And Seto spat out his wine.

"W-wh...he did?!"

"Yeah." Shintaro said, looking somewhat bemused, "So you do have someone you like?"

"I, um! I-I...!"

A soft chuckle, "Calm down. It's not like she's going to be here right now."

Indeed, they were the only ones in the courtyard. The hour was late but the lamplight was still strong and wine glasses precarious in their fingertips. They drank only within moderation though; Ene had practically drilled into their heads the importance of awareness to their surroundings.

"...Y-yeah." Seto managed finally, "Yeah, I like someone."

"Anyone I know?"

Seto never lied. He hated it; saw for himself just how much destruction one little white lie could cause.

Were it not for his oath to never lie, he would have at this point to Shintaro; the temptation was so strong.

"...Yes."

"What's with that answer? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Shintaro said, sounding a bit irritated, "Not like you need to tell me everything."

But he knew just how suspicious it sounded; Seto did tell him everything. Every insignificant little thing, every important lesson of his life, he told it all to his friend.

His friend.

No, more than that.

The person that Seto loved.

The feelings that he had for the boy was love, more than friendly. More than brotherly. Sometimes, Seto frightened himself with the extent his desire had grown without him realizing.

Before he knew it, Shintaro had become his everything, not just someone he liked or admired. Like he'd thought all these years.

"It's good for you, I guess. To have someone that loves you so." Shintaro said, "You're at that age."

"So are you!"

"I'm not particularly interested in anyone now, though. I've been too busy. It's an accomplishment in itself that you have a sweetheart right now."

"So you say but she doesn't...know..."

"Hoh? She doesn't?" Shintaro asked, and damn it all, he sounded interested, "Why haven't you told her?"

"She doesn't like me like that. I'm friends with her, she sees me as just that. If I told her that I l-loved her, then..."

"Sees you as just a friend?" Shintaro finished, cocking an eyebrow. Maybe it was the wine, but he seemed unusually interested in this topic.

Perhaps. His cheeks were quite red.

"Somehow I doubt that. Even if that's all you were to her in the beginning, she'd no doubt fall for your various charms."

"E-eh?"

"You have a kingdom of subjects that sing praises of you, wealth beyond measure. Not to mention that-" Shintaro stopped here.

"That?"

"Nothing. I just have a hard time believing someone would say no to you."

"Oh, she has. Plenty of times." Seto looked to the night sky, a slow smile spreading on his face, "She acts cold, but she's actually really, really kind. And she has a strength that neither time nor fate can take away. Just talking to her makes my heart beat fast and I'm left praying that she doesn't realize. She's passionate about her work and she has a nice voice. Really pretty too! She's also really brave and smart and-"

"Dear God, just stop." Shintaro interrupted, holding a hand up, "I think it'd be best for the sanity of everyone around you if you just confessed to her already."

"E-ehhhhh?!"

"You can't sing praises of her over a glass of wine forever, you know. Every day that passes by is a day that you haven't told her and another day closer to her impending marriage to another."

"...!"

"Who knows, maybe she has someone else that she loves, already."

"...!"

"I hear that most girls these days go for the suave, cool older type with a mysterious air..."

"N-no more! Please!" Seto wails, "I don't think my heart can take much more hits!"

"..."

"Eh? Shintaro?"

It's then that he realized that his hand was on the boy's mouth. As he stared on, Shintaro pulled his hand off, but it's still quite close to his face.

The warmth of his breath on his skin was strangely comforting, strangely alien and Seto suppresses a shiver. And his eyes...

Why did Shintaro's eyes look so sad?

"Honestly. If you're this worried, then shouldn't you just tell her?"

"...I should." Seto said with a nod, though he sounded as lost as Shintaro looked, "I should tell...her."

"Yeah. You might even have better luck if you surprise her with a kiss or something before that. Isn't that what the heroes in the books did?"

"They did, but...alright."

Seto's hand moved to Shintaro's cheek.

"I'll do it."

And he leaned in and kissed him.

The kiss was a mere brush against frozen, unmoving lips and he can feel Shintaro tense up underneath him.

When he drew back, it's too dark to see the emotion on his face.

But there was a hand on Seto's shoulder, clinging on with enough force to hurt him and Shintaro's voice was shaking, "W-why..."

"I love you, Shintaro."

He did love him.

An honest, true love that scares him and exhilarates him.

And the way that Shintaro stared at him, like it was an answer he hoped for but he dared not to believe...breaks his heart a little.

"I love you." Seto repeated and Shintaro drew in a deep breath, clutching the prince's shoulder as if to ground himself.

When Seto leans in close, Shintaro met him halfway.

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He loved him. From the moment he had met him, he loved him.

Even now, he still loves him. And this attraction showed no signs of fading away anytime soon.

Seto sighs and leans back into the pillows, careful not to move around too much.

The warmth on his arm and the soft sound of Shintaro's breathing were oddly comforting. Lulling him to sleep sooner than the sweetest lullaby.

He didn't want to ever stop loving him. Even if their future was uncertain, he'd see things through to the end.

He looks over at him and seeing that peaceful sleeping face makes Seto's own curve into a smile.

He'd do it no matter what. Because...

"I love you."

A soft whisper and an even softer kiss on the forehead.

And finally, Seto closes his eyes and loses himself to the world of dreams.

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One boy still remains in the waking world.

Though not for long; his own sleep approaches.

When he knew the prince was fast asleep, Shintaro looks up at him. There's an almost exasperated expression on his face.

"You've already said that before. That you...loved me."

He falls silent, though Seto couldn't possibly reply now. Then he continues, "Even after I said myself that I didn't know whether what I felt was love as well."

Because how could it be possible for him to love?

He knew himself that people thought him a monster.

He didn't have the capacity to love anyone else.

But for now...he doesn't want to speak out. For fear of hurting his...friend. Seto was his friend and he still is, after all.

So he'll give this strange situation a try.

Though he wasn't sure he could fall in love, Seto made him want to try.

"Just like back then. When we were kids."

Shintaro gazes up at him for a long while, until his eyelids grew heavy.

So he closes them.

"Goodnight, Seto."

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End file.
